Health & Wellness Archives

29-Day Yoga Challenge – Beat the Winter Blues

January 7, 2024January 7, 2024 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

The Challenge runs from February 1 to February 29, 2024, and is a commitment to attend yoga classes for 29 consecutive days. The PranaShanti 29-Day Challenge is a great way to strengthen the body, unburden the mind, and begin a daily commitment to yourself - an opportunity to tap into your true nature which is deeper, wiser and more joyful. In 29 days, you can create a whole new way of being. Start with any class on February 1 and keep going with 1 class per day until the end of the month! Why should I take the PranaShanti 29-Day Challenge? This is an opportunity to awaken to your life, to tap into your true nature, to lighten and brighten from the inside outwards - all in the depth of Winter. Through daily practice, you will experience: increased strength & flexibility; stress reduction & improved focus; improved sleep patterns & eating habits; feelings of well-being and upliftment. Helpful Tips: Daily journaling can...

Prenatal Yoga Benefits

August 15, 2023August 15, 2023 by superadmin superadmin2 Comments

Pregnancy is a unique and transformative journey that brings many changes to both body and mind. Prenatal yoga is a practice that offers incredible benefits to anyone expecting a child. Here's why prenatal yoga is a fantastic choice for all parents-to-be: 1. Physical Comfort and Flexibility: Prenatal yoga focuses on gentle stretches and poses that promote flexibility and ease physical discomfort. This can help alleviate common pregnancy-related issues like muscle tension and back pain. 2. Stress Reduction and Relaxation: Prenatal yoga teaches relaxation techniques, deep breathing, and meditation that can help manage these feelings, promoting a sense of calmness and balance. 3. Connection with Baby: Prenatal yoga provides a space for building a strong bond with the unborn baby, fostering emotional connection and mindfulness during this transformative period. 4. Improved Strength and Stamina: Preparing for childbirth requires strength and stamina. Prenatal yoga includes exercises that help build strength, improve posture, and enhance overall physical endurance. 5. Preparation for Labor and Childbirth: Prenatal yoga equips you with valuable tools for labour and...

Summer: Pitta Season

June 19, 2023June 19, 2023 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

"Because summer is pitta season, your primary focus in the summer months will naturally be to keep pitta under control, but you’ll want to have a close eye on supporting healthy vata by countering excessive lightness, dryness, sharp intensity, subtlety, and mobility as well. Foods to Favor Focus on eating summer foods that are good for both vata and pitta: apples, coconut, dates, figs, melons, prunes and soaked raisins, asparagus, cucumbers, green beans, cooked leeks, okra, parsnips, sweet potatoes, summer squash, zucchini, kidney beans, mung beans, soft cheeses, cottage cheese, cow’s or goat’s milk, yogurt, amaranth, cooked oats, quinoa, white rice, and wheat. If you enjoy salad or raw vegetables, consider a lightly sautéed salad, blanched vegetables, and lubricate your greens with a generous amount of olive oil, sunflower oil, or ghee. Also consider some mild spices like fresh ginger, cardamom, clove, coriander, cumin, and turmeric to keep your digestive fire healthy. Acceptable Seasonal Indulgences Sweets are cooling, nourishing, and calming to both vata and pitta, so...

Spring : Kapha Season

March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

"Spring is upon us. Winter’s accumulated snow and ice are beginning to melt. Gentle rains soak the land. The earth itself seems heavy with moisture—saturated with it—and the landscape is becoming a wellspring of life. Spring is a season of birth, new beginnings, renewal, and growth—a time for the earth to make manifest the latent potential within all things. Seeds are germinating, flowers budding, insects buzzing, leaves unfurling. And despite our growing separation from the natural world, we are deeply affected by this gentle stirring around us. Our physiology senses a natural opportunity for a fresh, clean start; our bodies are primed to lighten things up, cleanse ourselves of any accumulated imbalances, and rejuvenate our deepest tissues. As the natural world emerges from its long winter slumber, it is common to experience a renewed sense of joy and inspiration. But for many, the spring season is also associated with seasonal irritants, heaviness, and feelings of lethargy. Thankfully, an appropriate seasonal routine can help us...

Winter: Kapha Season

December 29, 2022December 29, 2022 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

"Ayurveda recognizes winter as a kapha season with strong vata undertones. It is characterized by cold weather, a sense of heaviness, increased moisture (usually in the form of rain or snow), cloud-covered days, and the grounded, slow feeling that sends many animals into hibernation. These are all qualities shared by kapha dosha, which is why winter is considered—primarily—a kapha season. However, if your climate is exceptionally cold and dry, or if you tend to feel more isolated during the winter months, vata will also be a strong component of your winter season, and you will want to actively keep vata placated as well. How to Create a Supportive Winter Diet Winter is actually the season when the digestive fire is strongest. The body requires more fuel to stay warm and healthy in the winter months, and the cold weather forces the fire principle deep into the core of the body—igniting the digestive capacity. Our bodies, therefore, crave a more substantial, nutritive diet at this time of...

Dry Brushing

November 16, 2022November 16, 2022 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

Dry brushing the skin is a comparatively new trend, though its roots lie in ancient times. It’s common in Ayurvedic medicine and is an ancient Kriya yoga practice but many cultures, including the ancient Greeks and Japanese, have used skin brushing to cleanse the skin. It’s done at day spas but you can do it yourself too! It’s called “dry” brushing because you aren’t scrubbing up while you bathe or shower; instead, a firm, bristled brush is swept across the skin, from toe to head. Both the skin and brush are completely dry. Dry brushing has gained traction for a reason. The benefits include: Detoxifying the skin - Dry brushing unclogs pores in the exfoliation process. It also helps detoxify your skin by increasing blood circulation and promoting lymph flow/drainage. By unclogging pores, it’s easier for the body to sweat and eliminate toxins in your system.Stimulating the nervous system - Dry brushing can stimulate the nervous system. It can also leave you feeling invigorated like a massage often does.Giving...

Yoga for Good Sleep

November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

By Devinder Kaur, Owner and Director of PranaShanti Yoga Centre Sleep is the time for the body and mind to rest, reset, detoxify, and rejuvenate. However, sometimes life interferes with our internal biological rhythms, which can result in too little sleep or not very good sleep. A balanced sleep cycle is important for our health and well-being on a number of levels. Good sleep improves our brain performance, mood, and health. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders and can affect our ability to concentrate, to think clearly and process memories. Yoga is a gentle and restorative way to help wind down at the end of the day. These three yoga poses relieve tension and stress to help prepare for sleep. The more that you practice the poses, the more they can help in a good night’s sleep. Practice these poses before bedtime and stay in them about 3 to 5 minutes each. 1. Wide-Knee Child’s Pose...

Fall: Vata Season

October 8, 2022October 8, 2022 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

Ayurveda considers a seasonal routine an important cornerstone of health year-round. Balancing the nature of your local climate with lifestyle choices that offset the potential for seasonally-induced imbalances is one of the simplest ways that you can protect your well-being. But keep in mind that the seasons vary widely from one place to another, as do the qualities that they engender. Vata season is whatever time of year most embodies the attributes that characterize vata dosha: dry, light, cold, rough, subtle, mobile, and clear (or empty). Autumn is the classic vata season. However, depending on where you live, the dry and expansive qualities of vata may be the principal components of your environment in other seasons too—showing as early as summer, and if autumn is followed by a very drying, cold, isolating, or windy winter. Beginning to observe your environment from this qualitative perspective empowers you to respond to both daily and seasonal changes in your local climate. The truth is that many of...

Summer: Pitta Season

August 10, 2022August 10, 2022 by superadmin superadminNo Comments

The most striking characteristics of summer—the heat, the long days of bright sun, the sharp intensity, and the transformative nature of the season—are directly in line with pitta dosha, which is why summer is considered a pitta season. And, despite the fact that some climates are exceptionally humid this time of year, the cumulative effect of intense heat is to dry things out, so summer is also considered dry. On a more subtle level, summer is a time of expansion and mobility—traits more characteristic of vata dosha. While there is plenty to celebrate about summer’s unique personality, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. A summer seasonal routine is aimed at fostering diet and lifestyle habits that will help prevent the over-accumulation of summer qualities and allow you to enjoy the unique gifts that summertime has to offer. General Recommendations for Pitta Season Your primary focus through the summer months will be to keep pitta balanced by staying cool, mellowing intensity with relaxation,...

Re-Opening of Massage Therapy

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 by Devinder KaurNo Comments

New Procedures for COVID-19 We are happy to announce that Registered Massage Therapy resumes starting Monday, June 15! This is a gradual re-opening with a phased approach accepting appointments first for the clients that have chronic pain or had interrupted treatment plans. If you are booking online and you don't see the availability you are looking for please contact us. We are keeping a waiting list and may be able to open up additional time slots. Please note the following points on how we will be addressing appointments: All Massage Therapists will be wearing disposable surgical masks. Clients are requested to bring a mask (reusable cloth masks are fine). We ask that you arrive alone and wait outside the Centre until you are asked to enter. If there are any forms to be completed these will be emailed to you before your appointment. For contact-less payment, all services will be prepaid in advance of the appointment either online at the time of booking or...